bob /m3498 -- AWOL for 33 days = unemployed

Neither,it's a vacation.

If your awol for 33 days , is that a separation or break in service?

I will be back by five if and only if my work day is truly 9 hours. Go figure we get brow beat by supervision on here whats next.

Be back by five.

There is no doubt that he should get paid for the work he has done

no, it doesn't make him a PTF.
He HAS to get paid for any work he did. This is not the Volunteer Postal Service.

yes--I meant aux route--new news, since he is a te he can only work so many days before he is off the pay roll. The postal Gods missed the dates so they say the work he did last week he won't get paid for. Since he went over the amount of time he was supposed to work can he expect to be hired as a ptf now?

I took the test in 1987 and didn't get hired until 1993. During the 6 year waiting period they offered me casual (non-career) employment many times, which I turned down because it was lower pay than my current job and it offered no benefits.

/m3489 Wow, the score is good for 6 years! Thanks for the correct and up to date info. I am surprised its good for that long (most folks wouldn't wait 6 years to be called for a job) but good to know.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (42)
NALC TRANSITIONAL EMPLOYEES
Date: February 20, 2009
24. Has the conversion to eCareer impacted transitional employee requests to take the entrance examination pursuant to the memorandum of Understanding, Re: Transitional Employee Employment Opportunities?

Yes, using eCareer all applicants, including transitional employees, can take the entrance examination whenever a position is posted. The applicant will then be given the opportunity to take the exam as part of the application process. The applicant chooses the exam date and location to fit their personal schedule. Once the applicant takes the exam, the exam score is automatically uploaded into their candidate profile and remains there for any future vacancy opportunities. There is no need to retest until the standard time period associated with the exam expires. (Currently 6 years for the 473 Examination.) An applicant may retest after four months of the initial test when applying for a posting. To assist transitional employees locate available opportunities, notice of all city carrier
vacancies advertised in eCareer within a district will be posted on official bulletin boards in offices that employ transitional employees within the district of the vacancy.
JCAM 2009, page 7-7

/m3487 Perhaps a "PTF route" is the local term for an aux route.

Great explaination NECarrier. Postalme3 PTF's there is no such thing as a PTF route.

the route he does used to be the route I did before getting to full time. It was a ptf route then. Is this one of those things where they won't hire till it is a full time route which by todays standards of not making any sense, will never happen?

The only way a TE becomes a PTF is if your district is hiring and your TE is on the hiring list (register) because he has a valid postal exam score (i.e. taken the test within the last two/three years; The scores are good for 2 years but can, with written application, be extended for a third year)
TEs do not get "converted" to PTFs. If your TE was hired as a PTF at some point, he would then go thru a second 90 day probation during which he could be fired for pretty much anything.
Given all the excessing that is going on all over the country, it seems unlikely that the PO will be hiring new employees soon.